


Normalcy

by prongsdamnyou



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Blind Date, F/M, I'm Bad At Tagging, Sort Of, james and sirius banter, jilytober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:26:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26744347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prongsdamnyou/pseuds/prongsdamnyou
Summary: James has just retired after a long and successful career in professional football. He's been special his whole life and doesn't believe he is capable of normal life so when he retires, he loses his way a bit. Enter Sirius Black, matchmaker.
Relationships: James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter
Comments: 13
Kudos: 27





	Normalcy

**Author's Note:**

> This is just something I sprinted through this morning. Thank you to the Jily-Discord for pushing me along. I had a ton of fun writing James and Sirius here. Hope you enjoy x

Ever since James joined Chelsea FC’s academy, he’d been told he was special because of his talent. This had cultivated a belief within him that he wasn’t capable of normal life. He thought normal life meant being bored, and James hated being bored. This is why, in the 2 months since retiring from professional football at the age of 35, he had been living in a state of almost constant anxiety.

“Why?”, had been the question on nearly everyone’s lips when James had made the decision. He said the usual line of people retiring from professional sports, “It’s time for something new and I’m not getting any younger”, and hoped that he put up a convincing enough facade of confidence that nobody would see the anxiety and uncertainty that roiled beneath. 

Since then, James had done all the things he had always done when he wasn’t playing football throughout his career, but it just wasn’t enough anymore. Golf, hiking, running, and reading were all fun ways to pass time in moderation, but when they were all he did, they quickly became less and less appealing. 

Sirius, James’ lifelong best friend, had eventually decided that James had spent enough time moping about. “You know, you really are kind of pathetic these days”, he had said offhandedly while golfing with James.

James, who had been mid-swing as Sirius started talking, sliced his shot straight into a pond. “Thanks, mate, just what a bloke wants to hear. You know that I normally shoot better than this though. I’ll kick your ass next time.”

Sirius snorted. “Not bloody likely. And don’t act like you don’t know full well that I’m not talking about your golf game.”

James did know that Sirius wasn’t talking about his golf game, and so he decided to remain silent and hope that avoidance would be enough to get Sirius to drop the subject.

Sirius, seeing that James was not going to respond, continued. “I’ve decided to do something about this pathetic state you’re in because you evidently won’t.”

James looked at Sirius suspiciously at this. “We’re not 16 anymore, Padfoot. We can’t just toilet paper all of Snape’s neighbors whenever you think I’m being pathetic.”

“Don’t pretend like you didn’t enjoy that.”, Sirius said with a self-satisfied smirk on his face, “He was stuck cleaning their yards for days. And besides, you needed that. You had been pining after Jenny Middleton for weeks and as your friend, I was duty-bound to do something about it. And, as you are clearly in a similar state of need now, it is in that same spirit of friendship that I-”

“No.”, James said emphatically, “Not happening.”

Sirius’s smirk faltered. “But you don’t even know what I was going to say”

“I don’t care. Whatever it is, I want no part of it.”

“What if I was suggesting that you visit your mum and dad? You know how they wish you’d visit more. And you just assumed that I am up to some form of mischief. You know what happens when you assume, James, you make an Ass out of U and Me.”

“Oh for god’s sake please just shut up. We’ve been standing by your ball for ages. Can you please take your swing so we can play the course?”, James pleaded exasperatedly.

Sirius ignored his pleas and assumed an air of great affront. “Where’s the trust, Prongs? Have I not been your best friend for nearly 3 decades? Have I not been your brother in all but blood? Besides, it’s too late for you to back out now. I already told her you’d be there.”

“The ‘trust’ died 10 years ago when you…”, James' voice fell off and his eyes widened, “You told who I’d be there? Where is there, Sirius?”

Sirius’s smirk was now back in full force, this time bringing a malicious glint in his eyes with it. “Your date”, he said simply.

“My what?”, James asked incredulously. 

“James, if you keep repeating everything I’m saying we’re never going to get anywhere.” At this, James could only stare uncomprehendingly at him. Sirius took this as a sign to continue.

“You’ve been moping around like a sad flower that hasn’t been watered for the last two months. I am watering you, James.”

“Okay, first of all, that’s a terrible metaphor. Second of all, you still haven’t explained yourself.”  
“You, my sad little flower, have a date this Saturday.”

JilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJilyJily

And so here he was, sitting in a nice Italian restaurant and waiting for his date to arrive. He wondered how Sirius had managed to do this. Somehow James found himself going on a date when he had been vehemently against the idea mere days ago. He guessed that some part of his subconscious had wanted to do this because he could've still backed out when Sirius gave him his date’s number. It would have been awkward, but he could’ve done it. 

Instead, he had done his best to seem charming through the few texts he had exchanged with her. He’d learned that her name was Lily and that she, much like James, loved pasta.

He had done his best to look good for this. No amount of combing would ever make his wild black hair lie flat and so he’d given that up as a lost cause and hoped it made him look rakish and debonair. He had looked in the mirror and told himself that he was a fairly good looking bloke and had nothing to worry about. But when has that ever worked for anybody?

When Lily arrived, a few minutes after he had, his first thought was that he was pleased that Sirius had set him up with someone so pretty. She had long, dark red hair and green eyes and James liked that. His second thought was to berate himself for being so shallow.

Unfortunately for James, his warring thoughts distracted him. So when Lily said, “Hi! You’re James, right?”, he responded by saying, “Yes! You’re James?”

He immediately flushed bright red and tried to explain himself. “I couldn’t decide whether to say ‘I’m James’ or ‘You’re Lily?’ so I guess I said both?”. She laughed and took her seat. 

James rubbed the back of his neck nervously, desperately hoping that she’d start the conversation because he was sure that if he opened his mouth he’d end up saying something like  
‘You have nice eyes’, and that seemed like a weird way to start a conversation.

“So James, how do you know Sirius? He didn’t tell me”, Lily said, saving him.

“Oh, he’s been my best mate forever. We lived next door to each other when we were kids and there weren’t any other kids who lived near us so we became inseparable, and then we were 15 he moved in with my family. How do you know him?”

“I’ve only known him since he started dating my friend Mary about a month ago. Then, last week, we had a game night and I mentioned that I felt so out of place with all the couples in the room.”

“And then he asked if you’d like to date his poor, lonely friend?”, James asked with a grin.

Lily flushed a little at this. “Erm, no actually. A week later he told me I had a date and that I couldn’t back out because he’d already told you I’d be there.”

James’ eyes widened. “You too?”

“What do you mean?”

“I was golfing with him when he called me a sad flower and told me I had a date.”

Lily laughed and was about to respond when a waiter came to take their order. She ordered lasagna and he ordered a bowl of gnocchi.

“Lasagna? So basic, Lily.”, James teased with a grin.

“Oh shut it. We can’t all be Mr. Fancy Footballer like you. Some of us order food because we like it, not because we want to be pretentious.” 

“And what is it that you do for a living, Miss Evans?”, James asked

“I’m a primary school teacher.”

The night continued much like this, with them getting to know each other and teasing each other. When James left that night, he left with a giddy feeling and plans for a second date. Maybe, he thought, being normal isn’t so bad.


End file.
